Apparatus for controlling the heating of the glass sheet during bending



Feb. 13, 1962 APPARATUS FOR 0051 G WHITE TROLLING THE HEATING OF THE GLASS SHEET DURING BENDING Original Filed Feb. 29, 1956 4 k 3 i" 15 I5 y as 11 11 2/ 7/ IN V EN TOR.

A TTORNE YS United States Patent Office 3,020,677 APPARATUS FOR CONTROLLING THE HEATING OF THE GLASS SHEET DURING BENDING Gerald White, Rossford, Ohio, assignor to Libbey- Owens-Ford Glass Company, Toledo, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Original application Feb. 29, 1956, Ser. No. 568,454. Divided and this application Aug. 12, 1960, Ser. No.

3 Claims. or. 4967) This invention relates generally to the heating of glass sheets, and more particularly to an improved apparatus for controlling the heating of glass sheets.

This application is a division of co-pending application Serial No. 568,454, filed February 29, 1956.

The complexly curved and bent glass shapes now being used for glazing and other purposes has made it necessary that a certain portion of the sheet to be bent be heated to a lesser temperature than other portions of the sheet so that the more highly heated portions of the sheet may be formed to relatively sharp and complex curvatures while the cooler sheet portions are being bent toa relatively less severe curvature. This has proved to be particularly the case in the manufacture of bent windshields for use in automobiles. In the so-called panoramic or hook type Windshields, the opposite ends of the glass sheets used to form such a windshield have a relatively severe longitudinal curvature formed therein while the central portion of the sheet, intermediate the ends thereof, is formed to a relatively shallow longitudinal curvature. In the case of cap Windshields, a longitudinal curvature similar to that in panoramic windshields is used and, in addition, a transverse curvature is formed in the central portion of the sheet and extends outwardly towards the ends thereof a limited distance.

' The production of Windshields of such a type by the conventional methods of bending glass sheets has proved to be extremely difficult, and in some cases virtually impossible unless the heating of pre-selected portions of the glass sheets to be bent is retarded, or the heating of other portions of the sheet is accelerated so that in effect,

portion requiring moderate curvature.

It is therefore an important object of the present in-.

the heating of glass sheets. I

Another object-of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for retarding the heating of selected portions of a glass sheet prior to or during the bending thereof to a predetermined curvature.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved apparatus for controlling the heating of a glass sheet conveyed through a furnace wherein a fluid medium is used to absorb atmospheric furnace heat adjacent selected portions of the heated sheet.

Other objects and advantages of the'invention willbecome more apparent duringthe course of the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings. 5 e

In the drawings, wherein like numerals are employed to designate like parts throughout the same:

FIG. 1 is a transverse sectional view through a typical bending furnace in which glass sheets may be heated and bent in accordance with the method and apparatus of theinvention; e I 3 FIG. 2 is a plan view of a bending mold having associated therewith the novel gas emitting means of the invention; and

FIG. 3 is a transverse section taken along the line x-x of FIG. 2.

Briefly stated, the present invention comprises an vention to provide an improved apparatus for controlling apparatus for controlling the heating of glass sheets in rotatable rolls 14 are provided upon which the supporting rack of the molds may travel.

The furnace 10 may be heated by means of radiant tubes 15 disposed both above and below the conveyor rolls 14 and adapted to direct radiant heat toward the path of the bending molds carried upon the conveyor. If desired, the radiant tubes may be eliminated and the furnace heated by a pattern of radiant burners as shown in the co-pending application Serial No. 470,424 of Gerald White and William P. Bamford now abandoned.

Although various types of bending molds may be used, the mold 16 shown in FIG. 2 is advantageously employed in carrying out the invention. The mold 16 is supported by a substantially rectangular rack 17 comprising spaced side bars 18 joined to one another at their outermost ends by end bars 19. Extending upwardly from each of the side bars 18 adjacent the outermost ends thereof are columnmembers 20 which support the mold 16.

The mold is of the commonly used outline type and comprises a center section 21, formed of a pair of spaced shaping rails 22, and end sections 23 formed by a shaping rail 24 which is movably joined to the center section by hinges generally designated by the numeral 25. The

mold sections are sup-portedfor movement from an openposition (phantom lines in FIG. 1) to a closed position (full lines in FIG. 1) by means of a transverse rod 26-.

secured to each of the end section rails 24 and extending outwardly therefrom to have its opposite ends rotatably received in links 27 swingably secured by pins 28 to the column members 20;

l As shown in FIG. 1, the upper surfaces of the mold center section rails 22 are of a relatively shallow curvature while thegopposite end section rails 24 are of a'. relatively sharp curvature and, together, theyfact to form. a shaping surface for forming the glass sheet to be bent. f. This type of mold is of the general type commonly used In. bending such Windshields, it is desirable that the sharply curved portions of the bent glass sheet, which correspond roughly to the mold end sections 23, receive a relatively greater amount of heat as compared to the sheet portion in bending panoramic or hook-type Windshields.

corresponding to the center section 21 of the mold, so that the sheet end portions may properly conform to the more sharply curved mold end sections while the center portion of the sheet is not heated excessively which.

" could cause undesirable sag. Therefore, it is desirable to a higher temperature, or the heating of the central portion of the sheet may be retarded with respect to the that a differential heating of the sheet be effected. Generally speaking, this differential heating may be effected.

in one of two ways: additional heat may be concentrated upon the end portions of the sheet to raise these portions end portions. It has been found preferable to retard theheating of the central portion of the sheet since by so doing, the tendency of the sheet to sag between the supported longitudinal edges thereof and thus produce an Patented Feb. 13, 1962 the heating of the central" portion of the glass sheet is effected by directing a relatively cool fluid in the form of a gas or vapor, such as steam, into the furnace atmosphere immediately adjacent the central portion of the sheet which fluid absorbs heat from the furnace atmosphere immediately adjacent the central portion of the sheet and thus retards the heating thereof while not materially affecting the sheet end portions.

As a means of generating this gas, a plurality of containers or water boxes 29 are secured to the rack side bars 18, beneath the mold center section 21, by means of support rods 30.. As shown in FIG. 2, the boxes 29 are arranged two each and spaced an equal distance on each side of. the transverse center line x-x of the mold and are of a length somewhat less than the distance between the side rails 22. The boxes 29 are of substantially rectangular construction, and have a plurality of small holes 31 formed in the top walls or upper surfaces a thereof and a capped opening 32 at one end thereof through which the boxes may be filled with water or other suitable vapor or gas-producing substances.

In heating and bending glass sheets in accordance with the invention, the water boxes 29 are filled with water prior to passing the mold through a furnace such as furnace shown in FIG. 1. Before being passed through the furnace, the mold sections are spread to the open position and a glass sheet 33 to be bent is supported thereon. While passing through the furnace, the mold is passed through successive zones of increasing temperature while the surfaces of the sheet are subjected to radiant heat until the glass sheet reaches bending temperature. In moving through the furnace, the water in the boxes 29 becomes heated to the boiling point after the mold has moved a relatively short distance along its path. After the water reaches the boiling point, the steam thus created escapes through the openings 31 in the upper surface of the water boxes. Since a certain amount of pressure is created within each of the boxes, the steam is projected upwardly toward the lower surface of the glass sheet and into the same relative portion of the furnace atmosphere during the molds movement there through and retards the heating of an area of the sheet roughly corresponding to the area of distribution of the water boxes therebeneath; that is, the central portion of the sheet.

The effect of'the steam on the glass sheet is believed to be two-fold; first, the temperature of the steam is necessarily somewhat less. than that of the furnace atmosphere and thus absorbs heat .from the atmosphere adjacent the undersurface of the sheet which otherwise would be available to heat the sheet to a higher tem' perature. Second, the steam when first emitted from the boxes creates a vapor barrier which may restrict the transmission of radiant heat emitted from the furnace bottom wall 12, or heating means disposed beneath the lath of travel of the sheet, to the undersurface of the s eet.

The length of time during which the steam barrier is active depends, of course, upon the time required to pass the mold through the furnace as compared to the amount of water contained within the water boxes. Ordinarily, it is only necessary that the vapor barrier be active up to a point in the furnace prior to that at which the sheet sags into conformity with the mold shaping rails and the mold closes. If it is desired that the steam barrier affect the undersurface of the glass sheet after the sheet has conformed to the mold shaping surface, as for example, to further counteract any tendency of the sheet to transversely bend, a greater amount of water may be used in the water boxes or ingredients added to the water which raise the boiling point thereof so that the water will not boil until the mold has passed a greater distance into the furnace.

Although the apparatus of the invention has been described as used when retarding the heating of only the central portion of a glass sheet to be bent, the heating of any portion of a sheet may be retarded by locating the water boxes beneath that portion or by otherwise directing the steam produced in the boxes against the selected sheet portions. For example, if it is desired to produce a transverse sag or bend in the sheet between the mold rails 22, a steam box may be placed adjacent one of the rails and thus influence the amount of heat received by the adjacent sheet portion and thus control the amount of transverse bend or determine the point of maximum bending.

It will be understood that the form of the invention herewith shown and described is to be taken as a preferred embodiment of the same, and various changes may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In apparatus for bending glass sheets, an outline type bending mold having a curved shaping surface for receiving the peripheral portions of a bent glass sheet in contact therewith, and a container carried by the mold beneath the shaping surface and within the projected periphery thereof for enclosing a gas-producing substance, said container including gas impervious side and bottom walls and having a top wall provided with a series of openings therein, said top wall being positioned relative to said mold so as to face said shaping surface whereby said openings provide means for directing gas from said container adjacent said shaping surface.

2. In apparatus for bending glass sheets, an outline type bending mold having a curved upwardly facing shaping surface for receiving the peripheral portions of a bent glass sheet in contact therewith, a rack for supporting said mold, means for mounting the mold on said rack, and a container carried by said rack beneath the shaping surface of the mold and within the projected periphery thereof for enclosing a gas-producing cooling liquid, said container including gas impervious side and bottom walls and. having. a top wall provided with a series of openings therein, said top wall being positioned relative to said mold so as to face said shaping surface whereby said openings provide means for directing gas from said container adjacent said. shaping surface.

3. Apparatus for bending glass sheets according to claim 2, in which said. bending mold includes a center section and a pair of end sections movably joined to said center section, each of. said sections having a portion of said shaping surface formed thereon, and in which a plurality of said containers are carried by said rack and positioned beneath and within the projected periphery of the shaping surface portion of said center section.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 637,038 Sievert Nov. 14, 1899 637,899 Sievert Nov. 28, 1899 858,484 Thompson July 2, 1907 1,308,408 Gast July 1, 1919 2,377,849 Binkert et al June 12, 1945 2,395,727 Devol Feb. 26, 1946 2,646,647 Bamfordet al July 28, 1953 2,665,524 Brown Jan. 12, 1954 2,688,210 Jendrisak Sept. 7, 1954 2,766,555 Iendrisak et a1 Oct. 16, 1956 2,920,424 White Ian. 12, 1960 

